Archive for ‘Lighting’

Ambient lighting is an important factor you can and should play with in every room in your home. It creates warmth and depth and conveys a cozy, loved and lived in feeling. One day, I plan to have a chandelier of some opulent sort in nearly every room of my dream home and I won’t stop at that! Oh, no I won’t! For instance, I’ll add a ceiling medallion to finish the look. Ceiling medallions act like a picture frame for your light fixture and provide architectural interest. Such a great way to add detail, and they are relatively inexpensive and you can find them at most hardware stores.

Finishing details add polish and a sense of completion to a room. When the lights are low and the evenings long you may even experience some shadow play with the architectural details in certain medallions depending on your light source. The ceilings shown here are dramatic and lovely all at the same time. You don’t have to paint your ceiling black, you could paint the medallion a contrasting colour or paint it the same as the ceiling for an understated look.

What else can you do with ceiling medallions? Well, you can paint several of your favourites and create a gallery wall of ceiling medallion art. You could also affix a mirror to the backside of a medallion, for a pretty take on a small mirror.

Of the photos I procured for this post, the chandelier pictured in the first photo is a great fit style wise. As for the rest, this might surprise you but I would change them all to chandeliers. Maybe even a drum chandelier in place of the ceiling fan and light fixture in the second and third photos respectively. Pretty, glitzy ceiling bling, you just can’t go wrong!! XOXO

What lights up your world? A lamp, a smile, a cup of tea? Lighting is a vital component in the creation of a cozy atmosphere, no matter the room in your home. Here in Alberta, with the days rapidly shortening, lighting will be used for longer periods of time as each day passes. With that said, it is a good time to take a look at the lamps you have on hand and see if you can decorate a lampshade for a little decor to brigthen your world.

Plug in your glue gun, grab some supplies and get ready to decorate a lampshade! On a recent trip to Ikea I came across some plain white lampshades reduced for clearance at a delightful price of only .25 cents! In hindsight I should have bought more, but it was a little on the small side and I didn’t have a plan in mind. Since then I have thought of a multitude of ways to decorate a lampshade.

Consider the base the lampshade is intended for to create a cohesive design. A white base with a colourful shade will work, as will a lampshade decorated with a neutral scheme placed atop a colourful base.

Paint on a Lampshade

Whether you want to paint the shade in a solid hue to match the existing colour scheme of the room, or try something different, there are many ways to paint a lampshade. One idea is to use painter’s tape to create distinct stripes on the lampshade. Paint horizontal bands of gray around the perimeter of the lampshade for one look or paint a series of vertical stripes in bright colours.

If you have been looking for a way to implement the ombre trend into your space, why not paint a lampshade with ombre tones? Choose several shades of the same hue and paint gradations of them beginning with the darkest on the bottom and move your way up to the lightest shade.

You can also try stenciling or free-handing a pattern onto the plain lampshade.

Felt Decorated Lampshade

When I think of decorating a lampshade with felt I instantly think of a kid’s room. Felt is the perfect medium to create animal pictures with. Make a mini orange fox or owl and hot glue them to the lampshade. Create a fringe of grass and glue it to the bottom edge.

Not sure what to do with your Grandmother’s lace or less precious stuff found at the flea market? Instead of resting in that box in the back of your closet, design a lampshade with it! For contrast, spray the lampshade in a medium to dark colour and once dry, glue the lace to it in a pattern that appeals to you. Another idea is to tape the lace in place with spray adhesive and spray paint the lace. Remove the lace and the pattern will remain.

A simple ribbon trim in a bright colour might be just the detail your lampshade needs. Especially if you begin by painting a monogram on your shade. Or, you can create a trellis pattern like this one here!

Fabricon a Lampshade

A fabric lampshade can tie a room together if you choose a bold graphic with pops of colour found elsewhere in the room. The right fabric can even be a starting point for the design of a whole room. To incorporate the fabric in bits throughout the room, use it on a throw pillow or for curtain tie-backs. Once you glue the fabric in place, trim the excess and finish the lampshade by adding a trim to the top and the bottom of the lampshade.

From wrapping paper to scrapbook paper to wallpaper remnants, paper is a medium that can be used to make your lampshade glow with any colour, pattern or style. Look to modern and vintage styles alike for creative inspiration.

Etsy via Pinterest

Decorate a lampshade with one of these six ideas or combine two different ideas to come up with a design to suit your own taste/style. As the nights lengthen, and the lights come on, what kind of lampshade do you want?

Chandeliers can be exquisite like a precious jewel or colourful and fun like costume jewelry. In fact, a chandelier is like jewelry for your home! This type of lighting can be used to glam up any room in the house. From the laundry room, to the bathroom, to the living room and the bedrooms. And don’t forget the foyer! I think we have all viewed a stunning jewel draped chandelier in a foyer, haven’t we?

I love the patina and the silhouette of this chandelier. I think it would look special in a bedroom. Lighting can transform your room from one state to another depending on the choices you make. Always consider the type of activities going on in the room you place a chandelier in, to determine how much light is required. As always, choose one that makes your heart swell with the beauty of it and all else will fall into place. That works with everything, doesn’t it?

Well, it has been an odd week here! I have lost my voice! What a strange sensation. It has made me choose my whispery words wisely. Instead of conversing, I have spent more time perusing some of my favourite online haunts, like Etsy, and I found these positively adorable lampshades by Sassyshades. Each lampshade is handmade with modern and vintage prints apt to fit any style of decor.

The smaller versions dress up living room or bedside tables with an instant pop of personality and colour. Depending on the fittings you purchase, you could also hang a drum shade in a corner for a reading light. Patterned lampshades are a fantastic way to introduce modern trends into your home for spaces that require a little extra something.

Sassyshades is happy to create custom looks if you have something already in mind. A range of child themed motifs are available, if you are decorating a nursery, playroom or a kid’s bedroom.

If you want to try making your own lampshades I came across a few tutorials on different styles of shades. Like this fabric one at Corner House and this chopstick one at How Joyful.

Winter has kicked in, with temperatures plummeting into deep freeze. Luckily we managed to get out on the weekend to see the Ice on Whyte Festival, before the snow blew in. As we were leaving the festival it started snowing and it snowed all night bringing with it a seasonably January chill. Buried are the icy plains we’ve had for weeks and weeks, covered by a fresh coating of pure white. Pristine powder in the trees. While we aren’t exactly snowed in, I would rather not leave the house on such a frightfully cold, minus forty kind of day!

Back to the Ice Festival, my favourite ice sculpture was a pillar with a round bulb on top of it. I think I could have stood there a long while watching the warbled traffic pass behind it, if the little ones weren’t off and running. It made me think of all the glass globe chandeliers and other lighting fixtures I have come across lately with clear glass, bulbous vessels. I love the simplicity and the sparkle this type of lighting conveys to a room.

Indoor activities are of utmost importance to ward off the onset of cabin fever. How long will the deep freeze last? Who knows!!! Here are some ideas that have brightened my wintered day:

I would love to hang a light fixture like one of these in a room with a window so the light filters and reflects even when the light is off. For those of you with some fierce DIY ambition I found a lovely tutorial at Small Notebook on how to build your own Glass Bubble Chandelier.

I just started reading The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams, and I plan to pair it with many, many mugs of tea.

I will also daydream another scene or two for my novel, which is in stage two of editing.

Build pillow forts with the boys and wistfully dream of warmer months filled with gardening and outdoor entertaining.

Any ideas for winter blues cures for a blustery day like this? What would you do?